MOE will consider all suggestions on bullying seriously in ongoing review of issue: Desmond Lee

SINGAPORE – Ideas such as a centralised anti-bullying unit, expert guidance on restorative practices and greater involvement from parent support groups are being studied by the Ministry of Education (MOE) to help schools tackle bullying.

Education Minister Desmond Lee told Parliament on Sept 23 that these suggestions from groups like parents, educators and community partners, as well as MPs, will be seriously considered as part of his ministry’s ongoing review of the issue of bullying. The aim is for the final recommendations to be released in the first half of 2026.

“Improving our framework to tackle bullying is a continual work in progress,” said Mr Lee, who is also Minister-in-charge of Social Services Integration, in response to a slew of suggestions raised by MPs.

Mr Xie Yao Quan (Jurong Central) suggested setting up a centralised anti-bullying unit to support schools and ease the burden of teachers, and Ms He Ting Ru (Sengkang GRC) proposed consulting child safety and violence prevention experts, and working with external agencies.

Other suggestions included providing schools with more resources to investigate cases, keeping parents informed about the content of Character and Citizenship Education (CCE) lessons so they can reinforce these values at home, and involving peers to educate others to stand up for those being bullied, said Mr Lee.

“We have a collective responsibility to help our children, our next generation, learn how to relate to others, be kind and show respect to others,” he said, noting that children make mistakes.

“They learn best through calm correction from adults reflecting on how they should have behaved, make amends for their behaviour, experience disciplinary consequences and being welcomed back to their social circles with continued guidance and support.”

Mr Lee was addressing questions from MPs on how schools investigate bullying, protect victims, and keep parents informed, as well as whether teachers and schools have adequate resources and training to detect and manage cases, including cyber bullying.

MPs also asked questions about whether MOE would publish statistics on bullying, adopt more preventive measures, and standardise reporting channels.

The scrutiny of MOE’s approach towards bullying follows a recent case at Sengkang Green Primary School, where a Primary 3 pupil bullied a female classmate and sent death threats to her mother.

Mr Lee reiterated MOE’s stance against bullying, combining firm rules against hurtful behaviours with preventive education, while using discipline as an educative and rehabilitative process.

The ministry has been conducting a “comprehensive review” of bullying since early 2025, and is consulting the public on four key areas, including strengthening school culture and processes, and emphasising values education.

Mr Lee said that MOE had conducted an internal review on bullying in 2020, as part of a much larger review of the CCE curriculum. This led to some measures being implemented in 2021, three of which were relevant to tackling hurtful behaviour and bullying.

These steps were refreshing the CCE curriculum to guide students on kindness online and offline, setting up peer support systems and designating staff to foster positive school culture and address hurtful behaviour.

These efforts have evolved into teaching students pro-social behaviours and how to respond in unsafe situations, said Mr Lee. There are reporting channels for them to report bullying, including through online forms or e-mail, and schools mete out disciplinary measures based on the severity of cases.

“400,000 primary and secondary school children… If you add the whole system together, ITE, polytechnics, and universities, half a million (students),” he said. “The number of micro interactions is huge. These are people-to-people relationships, and you want a certain degree of resilience.”

He was responding to Mr Yip Hon Weng (Yio Chu Kang), who asked if there was a risk of cases being over-reported and how MOE will balance teaching resilience with protecting victims.

“You can never get it perfect,” said Mr Lee, who said teachers use incidents as teachable moments.

“I don’t think we want to give people the impression that we want to overprotect our children, because we want them to be resilient. It’s a careful balance,” he said.

But a line is crossed when interactions become toxic or harmful, he said, and that is when schools and MOE step in.

“When we say step in, it doesn’t mean we overprotect,” Mr Lee said.

The objectives are to prevent further harm and ensure all who are involved learn from what has happened, and for those at the receiving end of bullying behaviour to also learn how to better protect themselves and understand the spirit of forgiveness, he added.

The deeper work of educators and school counsellors also involves studying the underlying causes of bullying behaviour, especially when cases are repeated, said Mr Lee. These could range from poor role modelling and social media influence to having special needs and other factors such as domestic violence.